la is... an overview of the los angeles tech space 2016
TRANSCRIPT
LA IS...An Overview of the
Los Angeles Tech Space in 2016
Prepared by Scott Perry, LA Tech DigestJanuary 2016
Wednesday, January 6, 16
ABOUT LA TECH DIGEST
LA IS...
With a handful of raises announced every week and over 100 events & meetups every month,
the area’s tech scene continues to grow.
LA Tech Digest was started by Scott Perry in late 2014 to bring together all of LA’s
tech-related news in one place.
Website: http://www.latechdigest.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/latechdigest
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sperrymedia
Wednesday, January 6, 16
A REFLECTION OF THE WORLDLos Angeles metro spans a 500-square mile area, made up of 114 neighborhoods.
Its 4 million residents are comprised of 37 nationalities.
LA IS...
Source: http://laedc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/2015-LA-Stats_Final.pdf http://laedc.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/LAEDC-September-2015-Forecast-Report.pdf
Areas like Venice, Playa Vista, Century City, Hollywood, and Los Feliz are part of LA city.
Cities like Santa Monica, Culver City, Beverly Hills, Pasadena, and Hawthorne are part of LA metro.
LA county spans 4,000-square miles,10 million residents.
LA’s 5-county area (Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernadino) has 18.5 million residents -- nearly half the state (38.8 milllion)
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THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE INTERNET
The world’s first email was sent from UCLA to Stanford on October 29,1969
LA IS...
Source: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/internet-got-started-simple-hello/
Fact: even the US hub for ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is based in Playa Vista.
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GROWTH
Los Angeles is the #3 largest tech ecosystem in the US, and the fastest growing area for startups in America.
LA IS...
LAEDC reports 368,000 high-tech jobs in LA; this number continues to grow, as established companies and startups flock to the region, attracted to a more affordable, higher quality of
life than its big-city peers.
More college graduates and tech talent are starting to stay in LA, as the number of job offers grow, and the environment to
build their own startups locally becomes more fertile.Source: http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/08/theres-something-going-on-in-l-a/
http://laedc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/High-Tech-in-LA_20141006_FF.pdf
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#1 IN OPEN DATA and CIVIC INNOVATIONMayor Eric Garcetti created the data dashboard for the private sector to create apps and businesses on top of over 300 sets of city data. https://data.lacity.org/
In doing so, Los Angeles has gone from unranked to #1 in open data in less than three years.
LA IS...
With the help of CTO Peter Marx, Deputy CDO Lilian Coral, and City Controller Ron Galperin, LA is leading the way in data transparency, innovations, and partnerships.
Sources: http://us-city.census.okfn.org/ http://latechdigest.com/breaking-la-ranked-1-in-open-data/ https://controllerdata.lacity.org/
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CIVIC SUPPORTLos Angeles has a number of private / public and city-
related entities to foster growth, including LAEDC, LA2050, Civic Innovation Lab, Port Tech LA, Bixel Exchange,
Innovate Pasadena, LAVA, and WeHoX.
LA IS...
Wednesday, January 6, 16
EDUCATIONLos Angeles is home to 4 of the top engineering schools in the US: CalTech (rated the #1 Research University in the World for the fifth straight year), Harvey Mudd, UCLA, and USC Viterbi.
With 113 area colleges and universities, LA graduates nearly 11,000 engineering students each year -- more than any other region in the US.
Sources: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2016/world-ranking#!/page/0/length/25 http://www.businessinsider.com/best-computer-science-engineering-schools-in-america-2015-7?op=1
LA IS...
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VCs / FUND RAISINGFunding of Los Angeles-based tech companies hit over $4 billion in 2016, which is double from just two years prior. Two-thirds of the deals are at Seed and Series A level, which shows plenty of room for growth.
Notable 2015 exits include Lynda’s $1.5B acquisition, Match’s $460M IPO, as well as the investment partner purchases of Riot Games and Collective Digital Studios.
Source: https://www.cbinsights.com/blog/los-angeles-tech-breakdown/
LA IS...
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VCs / FUNDRAISINGLos Angeles is home to a wide array of local VCs (Upfront, Rustic Canyon, Greycroft, Wavemaker, Crosscut, Double M, Baroda, Lowercase, Mucker, Velos, MK, Anthem, Arena, Altpoint), celebrity VCs (Sound (Ashton Kutcher), AF Square (Troy Carter), Queensbridge (Nas), Machine Shop (Linkin Park)), as well as notables who have set up shop in LA (Pritzker, 500 Startups, Bessemer, MK Capital, SV Angel), making it easier for local talent to stay local.
LA IS...
More info: http://gregbettinelli.com/la/
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FEMALE FOUNDERS & VCsLos Angeles prides itself on diversity, and has a number of organizations to help female founders build a strong support group. LA’s female tech luminaries include founders Jessica Alba (Honest), Sophia Amoruso (Nasty Gal), Meredith Perry (uBeam), Rachel Payne & Meghana Bhatt (FEM Inc), Leura Fine (Laurel & Wolf), Stephanie Horbaczewski (Stylehaul), Emily Best (Seed & Spark), Phoebe Hayman & Soleil Moon Frye (Seedling), Carolyn Yashari Becher / Joanna McFarland / Janelle McGlothlin (HopSkipDrive), Tracy DiNunzio (Tradesy), as well as VCs Robyn Ward (UTA), Kara Nortman (Upfront), Alyse Killeen (Clearstone), Eva Ho (Susa), Dana Settle (Greycroft).
LA IS...
(Full apologies for this partial list, since there is a *lot* of strong female talent in this town.)
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ACCELERATORS / INCUBATORS / STUDIOSLos Angeles is fostering talent via a number of shops, including Disney Accelerator, Dodgers Accelerator, LA CleanTech Incubator, Smashd Labs, Grid110, Make in LA, Starburst, USC Viterbi Garage, and Startup UCLA.
Amplify (RadPad, AlphaDraft, StackCommerce, and HelloTech) and Mucker (Victorious, Chromatik, VidMe) have both been named among the Top 10 Accelerators in America. Science Inc has transformed itself into a studio, helping portfolio companies Dollar Shave Club, MeUndies, and Dog Vacay continue to grow. Pasadena-based Idealab (from CitySearch and eToys to Enplug and Factual) has internally incubated and launched a wide array of businesses for the past 20 years.
And soon to come on board are biotech space Lab Launch and entertainment R&D firm Fandango Labs.
Source: http://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/02/top-accelerators-in-america-turbocharge-start-ups.html
https://medium.com/@bryanlanders/marketing-ideas-for-incubators-and-accelerators-ad512c819cf5#.2jg3u1ab2
LA IS...
Wednesday, January 6, 16
CROWDFUNDINGLos Angeles is on the cutting edge of equity
crowdfunding -- Crowdfunder’s CEO helped draft JOBS ACT legislation, Start Engine was among the first to
submit a company for A+ crowdfunding, and CrowdfundX is based here as well.
LA IS...
More info: http://www.chancebarnett.com/about-me/http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151120006021/en/StartEngine-Elio-Motors-Securities-Exchange-Commission-Crowdfunding
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FINTECH Los Angeles-based companies such as Acorns, Gem, Peer Street, Tuition.io, Aspiration, Blackline, Wallaby,
Seed & Spark, Zest Finance, Fastpay, and Inventure are involved in various levels of financial services.
LA IS...
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REAL ESTATELos Angeles is host to a number of next-generation real estate services, including Rad Pad, Agent Ace, Patch of
Land, Realty Mogul, Leisure Link and Accruent.
LA IS...
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FILM & TVYou’re kidding, right? Los Angeles OWNS this space, and continues to innovate as the space evolves with consumer tastes.
Every single major film studio, television network, and talent agency in the world is based in LA, or at least has an outpost in LA.
LA IS...
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VIDEO
LA IS...
Not only is LA home to first production spaces for both YouTube and Buzzfeed, but LA’s unique role in entertainment has established itself as the home to numerous MCNs and studios, including Maker, Fullscreen, Machinima, Mitu, Stylehaul, Endemol, Collective Digital Studio, Big Frame, and Tastemade. Original programming studios Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Funny or Die, and JibJab also call LA home.
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HYBRID PUBLISHINGLos Angeles also has a wide array of content publishers, many of which are a mix of text, audio, and video, including IAC, Render Media, Demand Media, Woven, Nerdist, J2 Global, Inside.com, Internet Brands, Bakespace, Moviepilot, Headspace, Young Turks.
LA IS...
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VIDEO ECOSYSTEM
LA IS...
In addition to a large number of content producers, LA hosts a wide variety of companies that service the video ecosystem, including Epoxy, Jukin, PlutoTV, WhipClip, FEM Inc, FameBit, and ZEFR.
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VR / ARLos Angeles is the original home of VR giant Oculus, AR studio Daqri, and the world’s largest gathering of VR specialists VRLA, which includes local developers WEVR, Specular Theory, Fuisz, Emblematic, and Vntana.
LA IS...
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SOCIAL MEDIAIn addition to being home to Snapchat, Los Angeles is home to Whisper and Flipagram, Evite and Cyberdust, as well as dating sites Grindr, Tinder, eHarmony, Three Day Rule.
Facebook and Twitter also have outposts in Playa Vista and Santa Monica, respectively.
LA IS...
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GAMESLos Angeles is home to the world’s top gaming companies, including Electronic Arts and Activision Blizzard, as well as rising stars Scopely, SGN, Seriously, as well as Riot Games (recently acquired by Chinese partner Tencent), and mobile streaming platform MobCrush; Japanese firms Konami and Square Enix also have LA outposts.
LA IS...
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E-COMMERCELos Angeles is home to a wide variety of e-commerce, including ticketing (Ticketmaster, Fandango), conscious commerce (Toms, LSTN, The Bouqs, Enrou, Omaze), art & design (Saatchi Art, Deviant Art), kids / family / home (Honest, Seedling, Makie, Laurel & Wolf, Parachute, LootCrate), and food (Thrive Market, Soylent).
LA IS...
Wednesday, January 6, 16
FASHION & PERSONAL CAREAnd of course Los Angeles has a massive presence in the world of fashion and personal care, including Just Fab, Nasty Gal, Haute Look, Dollar Shave Club, Me Undies, Tradesy, Vow to be Chic, The Blk Tux, Fab Fit Fun, Reformation, Style Saint, Little Black Bag, DSTLD, and Five Four.
LA IS...
Wednesday, January 6, 16
PERSONAL SERVICESLos Angeles is home to a number of next-generation service apps, including Zeel, Heal, Soothe, Hop Skip Drive, Helpr, HelloTech, Clutter, Buddytruk, Curbstand, Zingy, DogVacay, Wag, Washio, ChowNow, and Saucey.
LA IS...
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HARDWARELos Angeles is the home to OG internet hardware company Belkin,
which continues to evolve into smart hardware.
Smart doorbell Ring got a huge raise from Richard Branson, and uBeam promises to wirelessly charge our devices.
LA is taking root in the 3D space via companies like AIO Robotics, Airwolf, New Matter, Deezmaker, Thingify.
LA is also fostering tactile experiences for next-generation inventors via Two-Bit Circus and LA Makerspace.
LA IS...
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AEROSPACE & DEFENSELos Angeles’s tech ecosystem has deep roots in aerospace & defense, with Raytheon, General Dynamics, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratories laying down the foundation for newer businesses such as SurfAir, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic.
LA IS...
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TRANSPORTATIONAs the hotbed of 20th century American car culture, Los Angeles is transforming the face of 21st century transportation via companies such as Tesla, Hyperloop, TrueCar, Edmunds, Cargomatic, Honk, ParkMe, Waze, Panjo, Uber and Lyft.
Not only is LAX the world’s largest airport that allows for legal rideshare pickups, but the City is also building multi-modal transportation initiatives for Angelenos to make the most of bike lanes, public transport, and driverless vehicles.
LA IS...
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BUSINESS SaaSLos Angeles has a ton of B2B services, including talent
management, data analysis, and sales solutions.
LA IS...
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SECURITYConsumer internet security systems Symantec
was founded in Culver City.
These days, companies like TigerText, Telesign, Cylance, Crowdstrike, Prevoty and
Burner provide security for developers and users.
LA IS...
Wednesday, January 6, 16
AD TECH / DATALos Angeles is home to some of the world’s leading ad tech companies, including Rubicon Project, OpenX, UberMedia, Alteryx, GumGum, Nativo, VideoAmp, Steelhouse, Convertro, and Ad Colony.
Applied Semantics / Google AdSense creator Gil Elbaz’s latest company, Factual, supplies location information to titans like Apple and Facebook.
And Encino-based Instantly provides insights to companies such as McDonald’s and 3M.
LA IS...
Source: http://www.builtinla.com/2014/07/10/funding-la-tech-hits-all-time-high-1h-2014
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COWORKING SPACESLos Angeles’s coworking spaces have opened multiple locations across town in anticipation of continued growth: Real Office Centers, CTRL Collective, Hatch Studios, Blank Spaces, Cross Campus, WeWork, Rhubarb, DOTS, NextSpace, Coloft, Kleverdog, BizHaus, and Opodz.
LA IS...
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SECOND HOMESHey SF -- your boss owns a second home (or third /
fourth / fifth) home in LA. Why? Because LA is frickin’ awesome! I mean, um, for strategic purposes.
Among those with property in LA include Reed Hastings (Netflix), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Minecraft creator Notch (who outbid Jay-Z and Beyonce), Elon Musk, Sean Parker, and
Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who owns, like, half of Malibu.
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2013/05/mapping_15_of_tech_billionaire_larry_ellisons_malibu_properties_1.php
http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/hot-property/la-fi-hotprop-20140713-story.html
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-0321-tech-real-estate-20150321-story.html
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2015/05/los_angeles_tech_billionaires.php
LA IS...
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OPEN FOR BUSINESS.
Scott Perry [email protected]
http://www.latechdigest.com
LA IS...
Wednesday, January 6, 16
I cannot claim to know everything, so apologies for any errors or omissions, such was not done so on purpose. Email me at the address below with any corrections thanks.
Mad props to Sam Teller, whose incredible overview of the LA Startup Scene circa 2013 was brought to me towards the completion of this project, and probably would have resulted in me not even making this had I known about it earlier. A few companies listed have come &
gone, but it is still an excellent resource for anyone looking to get started in this town:http://launchpad.la/introduction-to-the-los-angeles-startup-community/
And thanks to Michelle Garakian from the Mayor’s business team for pointing me in the right direction on a few details, she’s a badass.
Scott Perry [email protected]
http://www.latechdigest.com
LA IS...
Wednesday, January 6, 16